Improvement in seed-drills



J. C STEVENS.

Seed Planter.

No.` 20,377. Patented M ay 25, 1858.y

N.FETERS. PNUTOUTHOGRAPNER. WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J. C. STEVENS, OF LEE, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT lN ASEED-DRILLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 20,377, dated May 25,1858.

To all whom it may concern.-

Bc it known that I, JOHN C. STEVENS, of Lee, in the county of Berkshireand State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful ImprovementinSeed-Drills; and ldo'hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description ot' the same, reference being had to the annexeddrawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure lis aside sectional view ot'my improvement, taken in the line me, Fig. 3.Fig. 2 is a back view of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan or top view of thesame. Fig. 4 is a transverse section ot' one ofthe seed-boxes, taken inthe line y y, Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

This invention consists in having two seedboxes hinged or jointedobliquely to a frame in such a way that they may when necessary beraised or turned upward without at all interfering with each other, sothat their teeth will be free from the ground, the seed-boxes being alsoarranged relatively with the seed-distributing devices that by the samemovement they will be thrown out of gear with the driving-wheels, thewhole being arranged as hereinafter shown, whereby the machine may bemoved from place to place without a useless distribution of seed, andthe machine placed under the com plete control of the operator orattendant.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinvention, l will proceed to describe it.

A represents a longitudinal bar or beam of proper dimensions, to thefront end of which a caster-wheel, B, is attached.

O is a short traverse-bar, attached to beam A, and D D are two metalbars, the back portions ot' which are parallel with each other, thefront ends being bent inward and secured to the bar or beam A, as shownat c. The back ends of the bars D D are connected to the back end of thebeam A by braces E E.

F is an axle which passes through the back part of the beam A andthrough the bars D D. rlhis aXleis stationary, and awheel, G, is placedloosely on it, one near each end, the hubs of said wheels being fittedbetween collars b, permanently attached to the axle. To the inner sidesot the wheels G pins c are attached at equal distances apart.

To each side ot' the beam A an oblique baror beam, H, is attachedbyjoints I J, formed ot' curved rods d e, which fit in eyes f, attachedto the framing. The front ends ot' the bars or beams H are close t0 thebeam A, the bars or beams H diverging from their front to their backends, as shown clearly in` Fig. 3. The rods d of the front joints, I,are attached to the bars H, and the rods d are titted in eyesf, attached to an upright bent plate, K, which is attached t0 the beam by thesame bolt that secured the front ends of the bars I) D thereto. The rodsc ot' the back ioints, J, are fitted in eyes f, which are attached tothe back parts ot' the hars D. The eyes ot the front joints, I, it willbe seen, are considerably higher than the back joints, J. To each bar Ha handle, K', is attached. These handles are Iattached to the beams byjoints g, and the handles are connected to the bar C by bolts g', whichserve as fulera for the handles.

To the braces E E upright catches L are attached, one to each, and thesecatches retain or hold down the outer ends ot' the handles when they aredepressed.

On each bar or beam H a seed-box, M, is placed. These seedboxes extendthe whole length of the bars or beams, and at their bottoms they haveslides h, which are allowed to work or vibrate freely in a longitudinaldirection. Each slide lL has seed-holes i made through it at suitabledistances apart, and these holes may be varied in size by adjusting astrip,j, which is iitted in the bottom of each hopper, said stripsbeingsecured in proper position by set-screws k. (See Fig. 3.)

To each bar or beam H teeth or shares M are attached. Three teeth areshown in Fig. 1, but more or less may be used. The teeth are hollow andcommunicate with the seedboxes M, where the holes fi in the slides aremade to register with the holes in the teeth, it being understood thatthe bars or beams have holes t" made through them in line with theteeth.

To each slide h a rod, O, isattached. These rods work through eyes orguides Z, attached to the inner sides of the boxes, and each rod 0 has aspiral spring, m, placed on it, said springs having a tendency to keepthe holes i in line or register with the teeth N.

The operation is as follows: As the machine i is drawn along the pins con the wheels G actnate the rods O, and, in conjunction with the springsm m, give a reciprocating movement to the slides h, which, every timethey are thrown in line or register with the holes i and teeth N, causea certain current of seed to drop through the teeth. rlhe outer ends ofthe rods 0 are bent downward, so that the pins c can act properlyagainst them. The operator or attendant at any time may elevate the barsH, and consequently raise the teeth N free from the ground by merelydepressing the handles K', and as the bars or beams are thus turnedupward the rods O are thrown' out of gear with the pins c, so that thedistributing device may be stopped simultaneously with the elevatingjoints, J, the bars or beams, and consequently the seed-boxes, as theyare turned upward, are

kept outward and free from each other at their front ends.

I do not claim broadly the perforated and reciprocating seedslides h,for they have been used in various machines; but,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

Connecting the bars or beams H to the frame of the machine by meansofjoints I J, arranged as shown, to prevent the front and convergingends of the boxes from coming in contact with each other when raised,and using, in connection with the bars or beams thus hinged, adistributing mechanism, arranged substantially as shown, so that thedistributing device will be thrown out et' gear with the wheels Gsimultaneously with the elevating of the bars or beams H,`andconsequently the teeth N. JOHN C. STEVENS. Witnesses: y

MARsHALL WrLooX, WILLIAM TAYLOR.

